Why is there so much extra space aft of the 'B' position?
 

Tyring to figure out why the designers of this vessel left so much empty space aft of the 'B' position? Is it just part of the design or is it in case a decision is made in the future to mount a non deck penetrating gun or missile system?

Its probably where the crew live.

I was under the impression that crew quarters in destroyers/frigates/corvettes were normally located amidships or further aft. Are they normally placed so far forward?

Any chance it could be the designers leaving space for any potential customer-specific weapon systems or countermeasures aboard?

As it's most probably a concept, that'd be my guess.

Yes, my first guess was that it was for some future non deck penetrating CIWS or gun mount but as Abraham Gubler indicated, it could be crew quarters. The ship is a Gowind from DCNS

Having a quick glance over the specs on Wiki, modest point defence AAW capability and fairly decent decent ASuW capability.

According to Naval Technology the Govind comes in a "Multi Mission Combatant" configuration for ASW with a towed sonar array, maybe it's space for torps or torp decoys to keep any subs in littoral zones at arms length?

The graphic of the MMC variant looks closest like the model with the quad AShM aft of the bridge, so it could be that maybe. Although the fore deck is different it doesn't appear there's been provisions made for any excess systems in that area so would it be likely to start shifting things around to cram a bit more in?

The Gowind combat corvette (Multi-Mission Combatant) is equipped with full-scale mission systems for multi-threat response including a full anti-submarine warfare (ASW) suite with a towed array sonar. - Image - Naval Technology

Or it could be accommodation, like Abe said.

Rob,

Here are some more pics. The model displayed is the design that has been approved by the Royal Malaysian Navy [RMN]. The torp tubes are located amidships [2nd pic from the left]. DCNS claims that the Gowind has 'stealthy' features but I'm not sure how very 'stealthy' it is compared to the RMNs Kedah class [pic at the bottom on the left] - which is claimed by Blohm & Voss to also be 'stealthy' and were built 8-9 years ago.

The pic on the far the right shows the first design that was submitted, it looks way different compared to the approved final design. Yes, there will be a towed array but I'm not sure if there also will be a hull mounted sonar - one I think does need a hull mounted sonar to complement the towed array. The RMN has specified the need for the hangar to be enlarged to accommodate if needed the Cougar.

Having briefly been onboard the RMN Lekiu's, during their testing phase in the UK, I would agree that Abe's assumption appears to be logical.

The design in certain respects looks like it's been loosely based on these & is an update with a single main-mast, with the exhaust stack at mid-ships.

http://www.naval-technology.com/proj...iu/lekiu5.html

Following thru that the hanger / air weapons / helo handling equipment will be aft of the funnels, along with the boat bay. It's logical that engines / platform control & services will be midships.

That aside these are quite shallow draft ships (??), so to accommodate all the storage space for various tools, workshops, stores & personal baggage of the crew, as well as office facilities & specialist equipment rooms, there's quite a need (logically), for that area NOT to be employed with anything but crew accommodation.

SA

You want the crew as spread out as possible. For example on a Burke there are two berthings that are right behind the Fwd VLS magazine.